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VANCOUVER – The union representing education-support workers in British Columbia’s public schools has ratified a new contract with the provincial government.

The tentative deal between the BC Public School Employers’ Association and the CUPE K-12 Presidents’ Council was reached June 8.

The union says the contract will run for five years from July 1 until June 30, 2019 and will give members a wage increase of 5.5 per cent over five years.

The deal will now form the basis of agreements between CUPE locals and their school boards, and the union says those locals have until the end of November to ratify the contract and be included in the provincial framework.

CUPE represents more than 27,000 education-support workers in 59 locals and 53 school districts province-wide.

Its members work as education assistants, secretaries, custodians, IT workers, trades and maintenance workers and bus drivers.